Uggg...

I feel like late last night as I was sleeping someone snuck into my bedroom, stuffed cotton balls through my ears and into my brain, and then injected some sort of vile, viscous liquid into those cotton balls so that they expanded to the size of tennis balls while in my skull. Not fun. On the upside, it's one of those kind of flu/colds where you feel really awful but are still vaguely functional.

I went to class against April's advice, but the idea of missing the last class of the semester bothered me too much. (I either have an overdeveloped sense of work ethic or I'm a teacher's pet, your choice.) And now I'm sitting at home on the couch about to watch the final episodes of last season's The L-Word. This is strictly for research purposes, by the way, since one of my seminar papers (due in two weeks) is on how the show depicts contemporary lesbian fashion, power and politics.To accompany my lesbian soap opera research, I just watched an incredibly amusing hour-long documentary from the early 1990s called Framing Lesbian Fashion. The documentary itself was fine--an interesting, if short, historical account of lesbian fashion trends--but the clothing itself...whoa! I can't complain too much because I remember with some chagrin what I wore in the earlier 1990s, but flannel? Jean vests? Baggy t-shirts and blouses with belts? Why, I ask you? Why?

No more presentations...I simply won't have it!

I'm excited to say that I'm done with my last class presentation of my graduate career (not including my eventual dissertation defense, conferences I will hopefully be speaking at, and teaching(!) in the fall). I had an entertaining moment explaining fan fiction to my professor without revealing too much about my own authorial proclivities. *g*Unfortunately, though, I think I'm getting sick. :-(

I had a make-up horseback riding lesson today with the owner of the stable, with whom I had not yet taken any lessons (hence, she had never seen me ride), and after watching me jump my first course and giving me a couple of pointers she said, "Well, you do know something, don't you?" Talk about a masterful backhanded compliment. Although considering I'm planning to show at the end of May, I'm happy for her input.

Gingersnaps

So, I'm not one to watch horror movies because I have problem with terrifying mental images returning to flash in my mind late at night, but my girlfriend is writing a paper on a trilogy of Canadian horror films (about sisters who turn into werewolves) and I agreed to watch them with her. I haven't seen the third one yet, but the first two--Gingersnaps and Gingersnaps II: Unleashed--are incredible. They're creative (rare for horror films, I think), excellently scripted, with amazing camerawork and the acting is really inspired. I liked the second one even better than the first because the characterizations are so intricate. They're both just really clever.I would recommend these films to anyone who likes horror films (or doesn't, but isn't too squeamish about blood).

sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows everywhere

It's amazing how two days away from Livejournal (my crazy addiction) can seem like an eternity, especially when you return and have to spend an hour wading through all the posts that have been made in your absence (not to mention all the amsuing comment strings that stem from those posts).

My presentation went very well, by the way, and though I would like to jump for joy and dance a jig, I have another presentation on Wednesday so no celebrating yet. I have, however, decided to insitute an efficiency plan and try to write 4-5 pages today, tomorrow, and Monday (12-15 pages for a 25-30 minutes presentation), so that come Tuesday evening all I'll have to do is revise and practice. Of course, this will probably never work, but I'm going to try, which I think is a step in the right direction.

My adventure for the day: It is incredibly gorgeous out today--beautiful, perfect spring weather. So, naturally, late this morning, April and I were sitting in the backyard eating breakfast/brunch and watching her dog, Fargo, and her cat, Regie (who is only allowed outside under adult supervision) play/sun themselves. Being brilliant, I decided to bring my cat, Olive--who I only recently adopted (about 4 months ago) and who is still occassionally teased by the dog--outside as well because I felt bad that she was sitting inside all alone. I put her collar on and a little makeshift leash and put her on a table in the yard thinking that if she was up high and knew the dog couldn't reach her she would be fine (since she's relatively calm around him in the house). Of course, the dog lunged at the table, Olive bolted and my leash was completely useless since I'm a good pet owner and her collar is a safety collar (the kind that snaps off if the cat pulls hard enough).

Luckily, Olive didn't run away, but ran up the nearest tree instead. I haven't climbed a tree since I was a child and I have NEVER climbed a tree as fast as I did this morning. Needless to say, my girlfriend wasn't thrilled with my brilliant "why can't my cat come outside too?" idea when I was twelve feet off the ground holding on to a branch with sheer thigh-power (thank God for horseback riding) as I was reaching out with both hands so I could gather my trembling cat into my arms. I am very proud to say though that Olive trusted me enough to climb down towards me so that I could pick her up and hand her to my girlfriend who was waiting on a ladder. (Of course, then she took the cat inside and I was left up in the tree with no easy way to get down...but I managed!)

conference?...check!

The conference is over. True, there are still minor details to work out--such as the budget and sending our keynote speaker her honorarium and putting the rest of my life back together--but, for all intents and purposes, it's over. And besides the fact that I'm going to be sending an extremely nasty letter to my University's tech support department, the conference went exceedingly well. My professors and fellow students congratulated me and I got to spend all of last night at dinner speaking with a woman whose work and intellectual capacity I truly admire. Moreover (on a shallower note), she told me she loved me (jokingly, of course) for putting a hangar steak on the catered dinner menu and she hugged me this morning when I brought her to the airport (sometimes the little signs of acceptance and genuine friendliness matter as much the academic exchange).

In any case, the conference was wonderful, a lot of fun and, best of all, it's over. I'm so pleased and I feel so incredibly relieved. In the back of my mind I realize that I'm still not done; I have a presentation in five days, etc, etc. But, right now, I'm taking the morning off to sit in bed with my still sick gf :( and bask in the glow of the gorgeous spring weather outside. And this afternoon I'm going to see an exhibit of Law and Order crime photographs and then I'm taking the dog to the park (doggie playdate *g*) where we (mostly he) can romp and play and enjoy the euphoria of this amazing weather. It's still crisp, but sunny and lovely and I feel like running around barefoot and then curling up on a blanket in the grass and falling asleep in the sun (this part of my fantasy, however, will have to wait until it's a little warmer). Yes, and then, this evening, I will return to my schoolwork. But now everything seems less daunting. I just feel lighter and happier than I have in weeks. It's a beautiful day.

frenetic, but happy

If the conference doesn't kill me, the presentations and papers I have to write afterwards for my classes will. And why, oh why, do people keep stealing the conference posters? I know they're gorgeous (and have an image of Madonna and Britney kissing silhouetted on them!) and I should be flattered that people like them so much (even though I didn't design them), but it's difficult to advertise something if the posters keep going missing... ::Sigh::

On a more upbeat note, I just found out from my department chair that the graduate faculty chose me as this year’s recipient of an award that’s given out annually to a student in our department for “all-around excellence in graduate studies.” It came as a total shock; I barely even knew this award existed. So, I’m very excited and honored, and it helps mitigate my stress level somewhat, or at least make the stress more bearable.

Ick! I have got to figure out which windows in my basement are leaking because I never want to have to mop up mildewy, dirty water for an hour ever again (I know that my minor flooding was not even half as bad as it could have been, but still...). And I had such grand plans for my evening that didn't involve building a cardboard bridge for my cats so they could still get to their litterboxes. ::Sigh::

April birthdays are forever

So, for the record, I just came out to two seperate jewelry store clerks (at two seperate stores) in the space of about an hour and a half. I think this might be a record. One of them, the woman, tried very hard not to act shocked and the other, a guy, asked me if he could give me his phone number (well, he did this before I told him, but still persisted after I said "Actually, I have a girlfriend" until I walked away). Sheesh.

I'm not sure I fully realized how lucky April babies are with their diamond birthstone (lucky for them, but not for those of us looking for birthday gifts that don't cost four hundred dollars). I mean, damn.